Maybe, It Was Meant to Be
by zinzeyray
Summary: Fred Weasley and Hermione Granger are paired by the Ministry in a new Marriage Law, passed to keep Witches and Wizards from going extinct. This is my take on how it would play out, as the idea has been done before. Slow Burn FreMione. Rated M for future chapters and adult themes. Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione was stretched out on Ginny's bed with her mind wandering, as Ginny paced around her small cluttered bedroom. Ginny was gushing about Harry again, which in her defense wasn't normally like her, but she was happy and things were moving right along in their relationship. She was Hermione's best friend and all, but after hearing about yet another perfect date with Harry the nagging feeling in her gut started tearing at her, reminding Hermione that she was probably going to end up alone. Plus hearing about Harry's kissing was a bit unnerving, he as basically her brother at this point.

"I just don't know if I want to make the first move or, " Ginny cut off abruptly, and flipped her long red hair over her shoulder with irritation.

"Are you even listening to me?" Ginny let out an exasperated sigh, hand on hip looking very much like a young Molly Weasley.

Hermione snapped back to attention, and nervously tucked a stray brown hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry Ginny, it's just odd to keep hearing about Harry in a sexual manner," Hermione responded soothingly. Ginny had her temper every now and then, and this weekend was about her. Ginny smirked accepting Hermione's excuse, and her irritation seem quelled.

"Well, why you were zoning out, I was discussing the _very_ important decision of me making the first move and all. You know past kissing…" Ginny crossed her arms, and blushed beside that fact that her voice was oozing with sarcastic importance.

"Ginny you've already made up your mind, my opinion isn't going to change anything." Hermione giggled slightly and continued on, untucking her legs and allowing them to rest on the floor off the edge of Ginny's bed.

"I always give you such great advice, and you just blaze your own trail anyway," Hermione finished with a slight shrug standing up. Hermione was definitely not ready to talk about Harry and Ginny actually doing it. "You're an independent woman Ginny, you'll know when it's right." Hermione smoothed out her jeans and started walking towards the Quidditch poster covered door. If she didn't escape now, she was sure that Ginny would start practicing lines on her.

 _Shouldn't it be Harry doing all this planning instead of Ginny?_ Hermione thought to herself. Ginny, realizing Hermione was done talking about boys, took Hermione's place on her bed.

"I suppose you're right," Ginny amended, staring up at the ceiling.

 **X**

Hermione was vising the Burrow in honor of Ginny's birthday. Ginny was turning 22 tomorrow, and Hermione had taken a couple days off work for a celebration weekend. The Burrow in all its madness had become a second home over the years. She had spent many holidays crammed around the well-worn dining table with little elbow room.

Hermione walked around the table manually helping set the plates for the evening's dinner, some muggle habits were hard to break. But even with all the good memories, the Burrow was tied directly to Ron - which was tied directly to that nagging 'forever alone' feeling in her stomach. She and Ron had split almost 2 years ago. They gave it a good shot, but there was never much passion there. Honestly, Hermione felt that she had settled with Ron. He had grown into being quite handsome, she admitted to herself, but he still had the emotional range of a teaspoon. After the war their communication became even more strained as they each retreated inside themselves instead of sharing the pain. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Ron at dinner tonight, especially if he brought Lavender with him again.

 **X**

The roaring sound of chatter, laughter, and love surrounded the dining table of the Burrow. The whole family had turned up, even Charlie surprised them by traveling home from Romania to help celebrate Ginny's birthday. Honestly, Hermione wondered how they all still fit at the table as she sat squished between Ginny and Fred. Fleur had elected not to sit at the table and was currently feeding Victorie. The cake had been completely devoured between the boys and Ginny herself, and there was a light hearted feeling in the room.

A small 'pop' could be heard among the household sounds, as Arthur appariated into the kitchen. He was disentangling himself from his traveling cloak as Molly hopped up from her seat at the table to magically warm up his plate for him. He quickly kissed his wife, hung up his cloak, and settled into his usual seat at the head of the table. He looked overworked and rather somber for a birthday party celebration.

"Happy Birthday, dear." smiled over at Ginny.

"I'm sorry to have missed most of the celebration, but there's been a lot of ruckus at the Ministry with the proposed legislature." This comment sobered up the rest of the party pretty quickly. The Prophet was having a hay day with the newly proposed marriage law. Wizards had become a dying bread in Europe after the recently ended civil war. Voldemort may have been vanquished six years ago, but his followers did not disband quietly this time, all-out war had broken out. Hermione's interest was piqued as she waited for Mr. Weasley to reveal more information. The law was voted on that very day, but the results wouldn't be released officially until the following day at the earliest.

Hermione speculated that the Ministry would not let the law pass. Even facing extinction, she didn't believe that the Ministry would try and impose a law forcing individuals to marry and reproduce strictly to increase numbers. It was treating the people like livestock, she had more faith in the system than most. Even if the law was passed, it would take months before the Ministry would be able to get adequate testing in order, paperwork lined up, and rules set in place. Hermione was banking on it taking the Ministry at least another year after the law passing before anything would be taken into effect. These things take time, she reminded herself.

Molly whispered urgently to Arthur as she set his plate down in front of him, "Any news on the results, dear?"

Silence blanketed the room, this ruling would affect everyone is the room but Bill and Fleur as they were already married. Hermione nervously clenched her hands into fists under the table as she waited for Mr. Weasleys response. Ginny had reached over to grab one of Hermione's hands. Hermione understood why she was pressuring Harry so much lately, if they weren't at least engaged the law could end up separating the pair. She could feel Ron's eyes burning through the back of her head, even though Lavender was sitting next to him.

Mr. Weasley took a deep breathe, and his shoulders seemed to slump.

"It appears that the law has passed, and matches have already been set up."


	2. Chapter 2

_Been set up._ Hermione was dumbfounded. Not only had the absurd law been passed, but matches were already determined. Fear and anger slowly started bubbling up inside her.

 _How can the Ministry decide who I should be with without formal tests and questioning?_ Fear was turning to anxiety in her stomach as she stared down at the colorless mashed potatoes on her plate, all appetite disappearing. She risked a glance over at Ginny. Ginny's face had gone to stone, but Hermione swore Ginny's eyes were glittering with threatening tears. As Hermione looked back down at her clenched fists a tear slipped from her own cheek and landed silently on her jeans.

Hermione immediately straightened, sitting upright.

 _Why am I acting like this, this is absurd. There will be a way around this, they still have to give us time to arrange marriages. I survived the bloody war, I can survive this._ Hermione subtlety wiped her eyes, and worked to refocus on Mr. Weasley who seemed to have more information for them.

"It's not ideal, but it was found to be the best solution over all." Arthur's voice was tight and sounded well-rehearsed.

"Nothing official has been announced, but I wouldn't be surprised to see something in the Prophet tomorrow morning, or an owl. I suggest we put it out of our minds and focus on celebrating, Ginny dear." He smiled slightly, and proceeded to start digging into his plate of food ending his small speech. Worried whispering broke out across the table. Hermione caught words from George who was frantically relaying his fears to Fred about Angelina. Hermione looked over at Harry who had gone white as a sheet, and was sweating profusely.

Hermione was the first to get up from the table. She wordlessly levitated her plate over to the sink and gave it a quick _scourgify_ before turning to walk up the stairs to Ginny's bedroom. She could still feel Ron's eyes burning on her back. _Probably full of pity,_ she thought to herself. No matter though, she made her way up the stairs quickly. Reading would take her mind off things, and getting lost in a good muggle book seemed like just the distraction she needed.

Reading the book had actually been a bad idea. Diving into a story of a _normal_ life where people fell in love at their own pace was the last thing Hermione needed to read about. It just made Mr. Weasley decrement at dinner all the more real and threatening. Hermione could feel tears slipping down her cheeks again as her eyes started stinging from the salt that betrayed her hurt and anger. She wasn't going to have her chance to fall in love on her own. Hermione tossed the book aside. Thankfully Ginny hadn't followed her up the stairs, and Hermione knew she was being childish hiding in her best friend's room when she should be downstairs trying to comfort Ginny. It was Ginny's birthday after all, her day, not Hermione's. She was being silly, she told herself, and she took a deep breath to collect herself as she prepared to go back down stairs, when there was a quiet knock on the door.

Hermione's breathe caught, slightly surprised. It couldn't be Ginny, she would have just barged in. It was her own bedroom and Ginny tended to take a head on approach when it came to trying to understand Hermione's feelings. Hermione quickly wiped the tears from her eyes again, before calling out, "Yeah?"

"It's me." Harry's voice.

"It's open," Hermione called out. The door knob turned slowly as Harry quietly stepped into the room. He looked stressed, and was still pale.

"Oh Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked entering her own little mother-hen mode as she tended to when it came to Harry and Ron. She was used to taking care of them in her own way, just as they had taken care of her so many times over the years. She moved over slightly on the bed making room for Harry to come sit down next to her.

"I just, I really didn't think they would…," Harry's voice trailed off as he plopped down next to Hermione, the springs gave a squeak at the new weight. Hermione took a deep breathe, she needed to be the comforting one this round she could tell.

"Harry, it's going to be okay. The ministry will have to be accommodating in some ways, or they'll have yet another war on their hands." She was grasping for straws but her friend clearly felt like his life was ending.

"It's just that Ginny and I, well… I was planning on asking her to marry me," Harry's voice cracked. He was closer to tears than Hermione realized.

 _Oh dear._ "Harry," Hermione started with surprise.

"N-not tonight or anything, but soon. I've started to look for rings, and I talked to Mr. Weasley about it a couple months ago." He was rambling now.

Hermione stood up quickly taking up her best impression of an angry mother's tone. "Harry James Potter, you will march yourself downstairs right now and if you love Ginny you will take her aside and ask her to marry her right this instant." Hermione's mind was racing and calculating.

"The Ministry may have let slip that they have their matches, but they will have to honor existing relationships I'm sure of it, especially engagements. I can't see how they would get away with it," she looked over at Harry again who seemed to be in a worse state than when he entered the room.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Harry, if you love her why are you still sitting down! Up, go, don't worry about the ring!" she was chasing him out of the room by this point.

"Alright, alright!" Harry called as he dashed down the creaking wooden stairs of the Burrow. Hermione stopped in the door way collecting herself again, then headed down the stairs herself.

 _Ginny is so going to owe me,_ she thought to herself. Harry was walking out the front door with Ginny when Hermione reached the bottom stair. The Weasleys had spread out from the table. Mrs. Weasley was nervously knitting as she glanced frequently up at their special clock. The majority of her children's hands were now pointing to "Anxious." Without Ginny in the room, and avoiding Ron, Hermione decided to go into the living room and sit on the green couch next to Charlie, who was watching Bill play peek-a-boo with his daughter.

"Feeling better?" Charlie asked after she sat down.

"Yes, I'm fine." Hermione explained with a half-smile. "Just a bit of a shock really."

"You're telling me, I don't even know if it will affect me or not. I live in Romania now." Charlie looked thoughtful, but not worried. She suspected that an arranged marriage wasn't something to fear after you worked with dragons on a regular basis. Charlie seemed to have slipped into his own thoughts.

Just then, Ginny burst back through the front door of the Burrow dragging Harry along behind her, she was positively glowing.

"Guess what!" Ginny screamed with excitement.

"We're going to be married!"


	3. Chapter 3

The announcement of Harry and Ginny's surprise engagement had taken over the rest of the evening, Hermione and the Burrow's inhabitants had gone to bed quite late that night. The engagement had banished talk of the new law, and taken over all other conversations.

The next morning, the Prophet did indeed have news of the passed law. Hermione was sitting in a pair of plaid pajama pants and a long sleeved Holy Harpies shirt that Ginny had given to her for Christmas one year, legs crossed, drinking coffee, and pouring over the article.

"There must be some mighty –"

"- good gossip in there." Fred finished George's sentence. Hermione didn't even look up from the paper as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Not gossip, but several clues," she sighed and refolded the prophet, laying down the paper avoiding the drips of coffee, as she was sure someone else would want to read it after herself.

"It seems that the law has indeed passed, and matches have been made. There were no released deadlines or anything about when the law will really go into effect. But the Minister commented that engaged couples would be able to supersede the law if they were married in the correct time frame. Which takes care of Ginny and Harry I suppose." Hermione was more talking to herself than Fred and George by now. She nervously pulled at the sleeve her long sleeve shirt.

Hermione could tell that the twins were standing behind her looking at the picture of the Minister of Magic on the front of the Prophet.

"Well who do you think-"

"- You'll be paired with," the twins asked mischievously.

Hermione raised a hand brushing the two away from her like flies. "Oh like you two even care." She was smirking. They liked their jokes.

"Bet-ya it's ikkle Ronnie-kins." Fred teased, reaching over her to grab a piece of toast off the table.

"Or worse, Malfoy." George suggested as he popped a muffin into his mouth.

Hermione blanched. The thought of her pairing hadn't really crossed her mind. She was so caught up with the unfairness of it all she hadn't even began to wonder who she would be paired with.

 _Honestly, they probably didn't even find someone to pair me with_ , she amended to herself. But she couldn't think of anything more awkward than being paired with Ron, when she clearly didn't have any romantic feelings towards him, or more awful than being paired with Malfoy. Hermione immediately placed a hand on her sleeve, pressing firmly on her forearm feeling the cotton fabric of her shirt rub against the scar underneath, applying enough pressure to cause the magical scar to start stinging. She suddenly lost her appetite.

"Oh don't be like that we were only joking," George teased trying to pull Hermione out of her quiet state. He reached out to touch her forearm, and Hermione jumped out of her seat recoiling. Fred and George stared at her with puzzled expressions, as they saw the fear flash through her eyes.

 **X**

"What do you think that was all about with Hermione," George asked Fred as they were sitting up in their old bedroom. The two of them now lived in the flat above their shop, but the pair had elected to stay at the Burrow last night after Ginny and Harry's announcement. They were damned if they were going to miss a good party, especially when the two of them were the life of the party.

"Who knows," Fred responded to his twin. "Never know what's going on with girls." He added to his statement, but neither of them liked to see her so scared.

"She was scared of me Fred. She actually _jumped_ away from me. Do I smell that bad?" George was sounding almost hurt. Fred switched tactics.

"Should I be telling Angelina that you're obsessed about how you make Hermione feel now," he was teasing George. "And speaking of Angelina are you going to pop the question before, you know?"

This changed George's train of thought very quickly. A blush had broken out across his face.

"I well, I…" Fred smirked as George continued to stammer, and he sighed sarcastically.

"I suppose you won't have the courage too, and I'll have to propose to the poor girl. I am the better looking twin after all. I'm sure she wouldn't say -" Fred's sentence was abruptly cut off when George threw a pillow into his face.

 _And he's was back,_ Fred thought satisfied.

 **X**

Fred ran into Hermione, literally, at Flourish and Blots a few days later. The enormous stack of books she had in her hands went flying every which way as they collided, and Hermione herself ended up sprawled on the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Fred exclaimed as he started picking up books. Hermione had started to sit up and was gently rubbing her head.

"Ouch," she mumbled a little be confused.

Fred looked back down and realized that he had had just pushed none other than Hermione Granger over in a store. He squatted down looking over her.

"Gosh Hermione are you okay, I wasn't looking, you're so short anyways I can barely see you." He was blabbering and based on her confused look slowly turning into a glare he had said something wrong.

"Hermi- ," Fred was cut off by Hermione.

"Oh just drop it, I'm just invisible sometimes, no need to make up excuses. I'm fine." She sounded rather irritated. _What had her knickers in a twist_ , Fred thought. He stood up, grabbing both Hermione's wrists to start pulling her up when she started screaming.

Fred's blood ran cold at the sound of her scream. He dropped her wrists and stepped back immediately.

"Are- are you hurt? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Fred questioned her frantically as he looked her over uncomfortably, her scream had captured a lot of attention and the other customers were starting to look over their way. _What if they thought he had done something else to her?_ His ears were starting to turn red at the though.

"Just leave me alone." Hermione hissed, collecting her books again. She jumped up and started walking out the door. Fred, recovering, dashed out the door after her completely forgetting his purpose for going into the store.

He exited the store and quickly looked over the crowd for Hermione's curls. Finding her he set off at a run to catch up. Fred weaved quickly though the crowd of witches and wizards catching up to Hermione. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder stopping her gently.

"Hermione are you okay, you screamed so loud are you o- "

"Leave me alone Fred, I said I was fine. Don't touch me." She pulled away from his hand harshly

Fred fumed, he was just trying to check on her. Her scream was so painful, why was she being such a bitch.

"Fine," he yelled, "I will leave you alone."

With a crack, he disapparited.

 **X**

Another week passed. Charlie went back to Romania promising to return the following weekend to check in. Bill and Fleur had returned home, with regular dinner visits with Victorie. Molly would not be denied the chance to see her first grandchild as often as possible and insisted on cooking Bill's favorites at least once a week to get the chance. The twins were back at their shop, but they stopped by for dinner as often as Bill and Fleur with burn marks, and sometimes missing eyebrows. Who knew what those two got up to with their inventing? Things were still tense between Hermione and Fred. She knew she ought to apologize, but she did not have the energy to explain herself to him.

 _He was damn well avoiding her too anyways. Besides why did he think it was okay to touch her?_

Ron had been staying over at Lavenders frequently in an attempt to avoid Hermione who had be over a lot lately after accepting to be Ginny's maid of honor. The pair was planning on getting married sooner rather than later not willing to wait with the upcoming legislature going into effect in the next couple months. The wedding was to be simple, but Hermione felt that it suited Harry and Ginny perfectly.

With everyone being so busy, Hermione was left to her own thoughts more often, and even doing things the muggle way wasn't enough to take her mind off of the upcoming news. She was frantically cleaning her own flat. The place was spotless to begin with, but she was panic cleaning as Ginny called it. Hermione had scrubbed every dish, re-organized her closet, books, and furniture several times. She would make excuses about just need to change things up or felt that she was losing touch with her 'roots' whenever Ginny or Luna asked her what she was doing. Hermione knew damn well that she was avoiding the reality that pairing letters would be coming out soon. Ginny and Harry had registered as an engaged couple, and their wedding was set for three months from now. Hermione had poured herself into those details as well doing her best to have everything well planned out as a distraction. Ultimately Molly had ended up taking over most of the planning, Ginny was her only daughter and wouldn't take no for an answer. So Hermione was left to her worrying and her cleaning. The letters would be arriving any day now. She was startled when she heard a tap on the window.

She looked up from her cleaning to see a large dark owl sitting on the window sill. Hermione sighed and walked over to open up the window, she could see her cat peering out from under the couch at the animal, and took the rather large envelope from the owl. She held out a treat to him. She may not want the information in that envelope but the owl had worked hard and deserved to be rewarded. The owl respectfully took the treat from Hermione's hand and took off.

She stared down at the envelope for a few moments.

"Oh come on let's get it over with shall we." Hermione told herself as the gingerly started tearing open the envelope. It was heavy and she pulled out several packets and sheets of paper. There was a smaller deep purple envelope on top of the stack which immediately flew up, the red wax seal reforming into what almost looked like a pair of lips. Hermione's heart seemed to skip a beat the panic starting to set in.

"The Ministry of Magic is pleased to inform you, Hermione Granger, have been paired with Frederick Weasley."


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione's stomach dropped. _Fred._

That wasn't bad at all, she slowly started to realize, expect for the fact that he now hated her, and had not said a word to her since that day in Diagon Alley. She was screwed. But Fred wasn't Ron, and he definitely wasn't Malfoy. She should be counting her lucky stars that she actually knew him, instead of some stranger. Instead of dwelling on it she started browsing through the other information in the envelope. There were explanations of the rules, why the law was found necessary, and some very embarrassing tips on fornication. Hermione decided to abandon that reading for later, she was already flushing from glancing over the first couple pages of simple lust potions.

 _Was all this really necessary? Would Fred even want me? Do I even want him?_

The thoughts were slowly pouring in. Fred was like a brother right? Certainly that's why things didn't work out with Ron, there was no chemistry. Their break up had ended badly when he wanted more and she just couldn't. She shook the thoughts from her head.

"Well there's nothing I can quite do about it now can I?" she directed her rhetorical question to her cat who looked up at her with bored eyes. She laid down the rest of the papers and headed back to take a shower. She would be expected at the Burrow for dinner tonight, she was sure she'd be receiving an invitation from Molly any minute, especially if Fred had revealed their pairing to her. She knew she was going to have to face him sooner or later now, and apologize before their marriage ended before it even started.

 **X**

Fred dropped the envelope as soon has Hermione's name had rung into the room, and all but collapsed onto his unmade bed, running his hands through his flaming hair. Thankfully, he had opened his in the privacy of his room while George was watching the potion brewing in the basement of the store. George had in fact plucked up the courage to ask for Angelina's hand after a few more days of teasing from Fred.

"What am I gonna do?" Fred asked himself.

 _She hates me and I don't know why, wouldn't even let me help her up for Merlin's sake._ Fred pulled on his own hair slightly.

"What the fuck is Ron going to say?" This was cause for real concern. Ron may be with Lavender, but he still had a part of him set on Hermione. George and he could never get the dirty details of their break up out of him, and Hermione would have jinxed them into next week if they had pursued that route. Fred took out his frustration on the bedside lamp pushing it off the nightstand, and it shattered on the wooden floor.

" _Reparo_ ," he muttered to himself and he headed out the bedroom door back down to the basement to help George. Fred started down the stairs slamming his bedroom door behind him, and made a last minute decision as he reached the last stair.

 _I can fix this._

He disappirated with a crack.

 **X**

He appeared on the doorstep of her flat. The curtains on the window were open and he was sure she was home. He reached out to ring the bell, and stopped suddenly.

"What am I doing here?" Fred asked himself. He let his hand fall back to his side and he tucked both of his hands into his jean pockets. Fred made to turn around and walk away when he realized he'd probably set off her wards anyways, so she would know he was here regardless. And he knew he needed to talk to her. Needed to fix things before they even started. He was just so frustrated with her, why had she treated him like that before?

Fred pulled his hand out of his pocket and tried the door, it was unlocked.

Hesitating for a moment, Fred slowly opened the front door and took a step inside.

 _Come on you idiot, you're supposed to be the suave one._

"Hermione?" He called out uneasily. He did not want to be hexed by her. Everyone was jumpy after the war. He was surprised that her front door was even unlocked.

His call was answered with silence, and he started looking around at the state of her flat. It was neat and clean like it normally was, the black cat had poked its head up and peered at Fred with slightly open eyes, before laying back down to bathe in the sun coming in from the window. He saw the contents of her envelope strew across the small table that served as her eating space. Fred had been in her studio apartment before, but now her unmade bed in the corner with clothes laid out on it made him feel uncomfortable. Like he was seeing something private.

Fred shook his head, he was being silly _. It's just an unmade bed, it's not like it's her knickers_. Except there were a pair of red knickers laying on top of it.

Clearing his throat again he stepped towards the bathroom door to call out her name again, he could hear the water running. _She must be in the shower_.

"Hermione!" He called again, "It's me, Fred, your door was unlocked so I let myself in." There was still no reply. Puzzled, Fred stepped into the doorway of the bathroom only to get knocked into by Hermione herself.

"Oomph," she exclaimed in surprise. Fred looked down at her, and saw she was only wrapped up in a towel and she was clutching it to herself for dear life.

"What the heck are you doing here? Get out of the bathroom right now!" She was flustered and yelling and pushing him out of the doorway with her hair dripping onto the floor. Which she then proceeded to slip on, and she smacked her head on the tile.

 **X**

She came round a few minutes later, and when she awoke she was lying on her bed still wrapped in a towel.

 _What had happened?_ And slowly the image of Fred standing in her bathroom doorway started coming back to her. She sat bolt upright, which wasn't a good move as her towel slipped and she frantically tried to pull the covers up further which didn't move since Fred was sitting at the end of her bed watching her intently. The towel slipped, revealing more of herself than Fred had ever seen by far, he jumped from the bed turning around quickly covering his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean." Fred was fuming. He had made things infinitely worse. She could have a concussion for all he knew, he just wanted to frickin apologize and now he'd seen her partly naked. Which was starting to form an uncomfortable situation in his jeans. He took a deep breath, imagining Snape in his underwear.

"Hermione, I didn't mean to, any of this. I just thought I should come see you with the letter, and I feel bad for last week, I'm so stupid." He all but ran to the door as he reached out to open the front door he heard her soft voice and turned around.

"I – I think I'm going to-," she had fainted again.

 **X**

George had never recalled Fred acting so strange in his entire life. He was quiet, he kept breaking out into a blush and muttering to himself. Then he would suddenly get angry tossing something a little too hard, stirring the potion with a little too much gusto causing it to splash everywhere. George could hear Fred muttering the occasional phases "yelling at me," "never going to forgive," "it's her fault," and other nonsense. George sighed, he supposed it had something to do with his pairing, but he didn't dare ask. They may be twins, but some things needed to be kept to yourself for a bit. Fred would come to him when he was ready like he always did. The afternoon passed with Fred retreating more and more into himself until 5pm struck.

"Come on Fred, Mom will be expecting us any moment now." George was pulling a jumper on, it was a cooler autumn night.

"I'm not bloody going," Fred yelled out impatiently from the kitchen.

"Oh yes you are, I'm not going to be the one to tell Mom why you're not there." George marched over to Fred and grabbed his wrist taking him with him in side along apparition before he had a chance to get away.

 **X**

Hermione was sitting in Ginny's room looking through photos of potential bridesmaid dresses. Ginny had chosen red as her color and they were looking through the various designs. Hermione knew Ginny was itching to ask her about her match, but when Hermione showed up fuming Ginny knew what Hermione really needed was a distraction.

"I like the knee length one," Ginny pointed out a picture in the catalog.

"Well it's your wedding, so I'll probably end up wearing whatever you want me to," Hermione pointed out browsing through another catalog. She peeked over to look at the photo Ginny was referring to.

"Oh that is cute," Hermione commented with surprise.

Ginny laughed and set down the catalog. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me who you're matched with before dinner? You know I'm going to find out anyways, unless you're getting married and running away." Ginny was teasing her and she knew it.

Hermione sighed, "like you said you're going to find out anyways, so be patient."

Ginny's eyes got wide, "it's not Malfoy is it?" What else could describe Hermione's bad attitude and unwillingness to share her match?

"No, it's not, calm down." Hermione tossed her own catalog aside. "Let's head down to dinner before your mom comes looking for us."

Hermione was feeling even more ashamed of herself, when she had woken up earlier she had started yet another screaming match with Fred. Honestly, it was his fault for walking right into her home. The nerve. How could the Ministry possible have matched them if all they were going to do was fight like this? Hermione was stuck in her own thoughts as she walked down the stairs of the Burrow. The twins had appariated right as she and Ginny reached the bottom stair. Hermione was blushing furiously and quickly looked the other way to avoid making eye-contact with Fred, who was in an animated fight with George.

Harry had met Ginny at the bottom of the stairs and was hold her hand as they went to sit down at the table for dinner. Hermione followed behind them, doing her best to avoid being seated next to Fred or George like they usually were. Fred was bound to have told George about today's encounter, and she didn't want to have to deal with his comments either. This, unfortunately put her on the other end of the table seated across from Ron, who was staring at her uncomfortably. He, unlike George, had not proposed to his current girlfriend, Lavender, like Hermione had expected. She assumed he had received his letter as well, and she knew it did not say Hermione.

Everyone was seating, and they were dishing up their plates. Hermione released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She was not looking forward to announcing her and Fred's pairing. And now that she was sitting across from Ron she realized that she was not looking forward to sharing the news with him. Lavender was not joining them for dinner that evening. Hermione wondered if she had gotten paired with someone else, or if she was just busy.

Dinner passed by too quickly for Hermione's liking, as Molly started questioning her children about the pairings.

"Charlie dear, what did your letter say, I know you wouldn't tell me this morning, but I'm your mother after all." Hermione could tell Mrs. Weasley was trying to be as least pushy as she could possibly be. It was taking a lot of self-restraint not to threaten to hex her son until he told her.

"Alright, alright, since everyone is here I'll tell you. I've been paired with Penelope Clearwater," Charlie declared with a wink at Percy. Percy and Penelope had been something of an item back at school. Percy shrugged.

"I've been paired with Angelina Smith," Percy declared with a grin. They worked relatively closely together at the ministry and he was quite smitten with her to say the least. Hermione's stomach started to flip, Fred's turn would be soon.

"Well we already know who Georgie is paired with, and Ginny too. Fred, Ronald?" Molly questioned her two remaining undeclared sons. Surprisingly, Ron spoke up first.

"I'm paired with Hermione."

Hermione jumped surprised. "T-that's not possible Ronald, I haven't been paired with you." She was standing now, and so was Fred. She glanced over at Fred who was seated just on the other side of Ginny and Harry from herself. They made eye-contact for the first time that evening.

"Hermione is paired with me." Fred stated simply.


	5. Chapter 5

The next few minutes went by in a blur, and Hermione felt like she was just along for the ride. Ron had flipped. He had yelled at Fred for 'stealing his girl.' This prompted Hermione to remind him that she was in fact, not 'his girl' and had not been for over two years now. Which lead to Ron calling her a slew of names, and accusing her of never loving him. The row went on for ages it seemed. Author and Molly were yelling trying to get the two boys to calm down. Hermione had disappirated sobbing after Ron screamed at Fred, "Well fine then, you can have the Mudblood!"

Hermione reappeared inside her flat and slumped against the front door sobbing. This was unfair. She knew Fred, but not well enough to marry him. She didn't have a choice. Ron's accusations stung at the reality of it all. She had never loved him the way he loved her, but that did not give him the right to call here a slag or even worse a Mudblood. Him! Of all people, she had never imagined that Ron would turn on her like that. Yes their breakup was messy. But it was never bad, they had always tolerated each other. And he had moved on to Lavender right? It had hurt her when he started dating Lavender again, it brought up old feelings from their 6th year at Hogwarts, but Hermione had held her tongue and hoped for his happiness. So Hermione leaned against the back of the door and let all her held in emotions out all the way back to when Ron said she had no friends because she was a know-it-all at the age of eleven.

After a few more minutes Hermione's sobbing turned to hiccups and sniffles, as she started to regain her composure. At least Fred had stood up for her, or claimed her rather. That was slightly positive, right? She wiped her eyes and stood up to blow her nose. She should go back to the Burrow, Molly had worked hard to prepare that meal, and she should thank her. Plus she knew she needed to talk to her best friend now more than ever. After taking a moment to clean herself up, she disappirated to the Burrow.

 **X**

Ron and Fred were nowhere to be found when Hermione arrived at the Burrow. After apologizing to Mrs. Weasley, who insisted that nothing was her fault, she meandered to the living room and caught up with Ginny and Harry.

"Harry," Hermione squeaked out, "May I borrow Ginny for a bit… girl stuff?" She smiled meekly at the couple. Harry smiled back up at her from his spot on the well-used maroon sofa. He and Ginny were holding hands and looking though old magical photo albums on the couch. The current photo previewed a very small ginger girl hovering on a toy broom.

"He will have to survive without me, because we're having girl time no matter what he says," Ginny announced as she disentangled herself from Harry on the couch. Ginny took Hermione's hand and marched her straight up to her bedroom.

"Why didn't you tell me you had been paired with Fred?" Ginny asked, gently, for her. Ginny plopped herself down onto the familiar bed patting the spot next to her, waiting for Hermione to sit down.

"I don't know Ginny, Fred and I had a huge fight a week ago, and then we got into another fight today before dinner, it just was too much," Hermione stated without much enthusiasm. She was all cried out now, there wouldn't be any more tears resulting from this conversation.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. I thought Ron had moved on, and I don't know if Fred and I will even work out. We're so different, and we've been arguing so much this past week I have no idea how the Ministry found us to be a good match. I'm going to have to do some research, because there's no way he will want to be with me at his point. Not with Ron down his throat, and I don't even think he wants to be my friend anymore he won't even look at me." Ginny had shoved a pillow in Hermione's face at that point.

"Hermione, you're overreacting. You avoided looking at him just as much as he avoided you. So shut up. Have you even talked to Fred about it?" Ginny asked pointedly.

"Well we haven't really had the chance, when he came over this morning," Hermione stopped abruptly remember the afternoon's events. He had seen her naked basically, how was she going to live this down? Worse yet, what if Fred didn't like what he saw. She had not even considered that in her anger, and now self-doubt was rippling through her body. She recovered quickly, jumping back into the conversation.

"And Ron, I had no idea he would act like that. Did he ever say who he was really paired with?" Hermione inquired. She was genuinely curious, but she also knew this juicy bit of information would stray Ginny away from asking about her argument with Fred that afternoon.

"NO!" Ginny's features had turned to true disappointment. "That lousy git wouldn't give up that he was supposed to be paired with you." This cast Ginny into another string of slews towards her brother. "You should have seen the way Fred yelled at him after you left, especially for calling you a Mudblood. I honestly thought Harry was going to punch Ron." Hermione perked up at the mention of Fred yelling at Ron.

"He, he defended me?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Well yeah, he would have yelled at Ron for calling you that even if you two weren't going to be married."

Hermione's courage swelled just ever so slightly.

 **X**

It turned out that Molly had sent the boys off to their respective rooms to "think about the way they had just behaved." Fred had resurfaced downstairs after a time, but was actively avoiding Hermione. Her courage faltered after that. But defending her was probably more of a 'big brother' response than a 'defend the honor of my future wife' response, and she let it go. She wasn't sure if it made her feel better or worse.

Ron however, had stayed in his room for the rest of the evening. Harry had gone up to talk with him for a time. Ron was still his best mate after all. Ginny had convinced Hermione to stay the night at the Burrow, so they could talk about things tonight if she wanted. Hours passed, and everyone settled into bed for the night, except for Hermione who couldn't sleep a wink. She kept reliving her arguments with Fred, and Ron's harsh accusations. What should she have done differently? She knew she should just apologize to Fred, and see how things went, but she didn't want to deal with him blowing up in your face right now. Perhaps she could talk to George to see what his thoughts were. Hermione calmed down a bit now that she had a small plan in place, and rolled out of the bed she was sharing with Ginny, Reaching into her little red bag, she always kept with her since the war, and she pulled out some relaxation potion and headed out of the bedroom into the bathroom.

 _Hot water heals all wounds_ , she thought to herself, and headed to take a nice long shower.

Hermione quietly tip-toed upstairs, skipping the second to top stair which had a horrible squeak, to the bathroom and silently closed the door behind her. She started the hot water, added a couple drops of the potion to the bottom of that bath, and the steam rising out of the shower was heavenly. She slipped out of her pajamas and settled in for a nice shower.

 **X**

After a very long shower, Hermione felt infinitely more relaxed thanks to the potion. The hot water had worked out most of the knots in her back from the evening's tension. She toweled herself dry and slipped back into her plaid pajamas, and Holly Harpies shirt. Wiping off the steamy mirror she quickly braided her damp hair, looking down to secure the hair tie. She didn't want to risk using a drying spell as they were typically loud, and it was past one in the morning. Hermione heard a click, and looked back up into the mirror. She jumped and gave a small squeak. Ron had walked into the bathroom, and was standing behind her. Hermione spun on her heals, "Ronald what are you doing in here?"

 _Honestly, what is it with Weasley men and sneaking up on women in the shower?_

"Shhh, Hermione," Ron hissed at her. "You're going to wake everyone up." Hermione had opened her mouth to protest, but Ron was giving her the zip it motion.

"I wanted to apologize to you, I never meant to call you those things. You know I didn't mean them right?" He was pleading with her with his eye, but she could tell he wasn't finished, and let him continue.

"I still love you, and I don't think the Ministry should be able to tell us who to marry. Especially you marrying my brother." While Hermione agreed with the statement, but she was getting more irritated by the minute.

"Ron, I love you like a _brother_ ," she emphasized that last word. "We broke up ages ago, and you having a row at me and with Fred was unacceptable tonight. You need to let it go, and you owe Fred an apology as well." Hermione looked at him seriously, placing her hands on her hips. She was exhausted and finally ready for bed, and she just knew Ron was going to upset her again.

Ron had clenched his hands into fists. "So you're willing to marry Fred, but not me." His voice was full of anger. He quickly took a step forward and grabbed Hermione by the shoulder and pulled her towards him, coming down hard on her mouth with a painful kiss. She let out a startled scream. She pulled away and pushed his chest as hard as she could. Ron was stunned for a moment, and she tried to dart past him to get out of the bathroom. Ron turned and grabbed her wrist right as she had got through the door frame and pulled her back against him.

"Come on Hermione, don't be like this. Let me show you there can be chemistry between us. Lots has changed in the last couple years." He was trying to sound sexy and it was making Hermione's skin crawl in an uncomfortable way.

 _Had Ron been drinking?_ She didn't smell Fire Whiskey on him but he was not acting himself. His hand moved up on her wrist, his fingers pushing up underneath her long sleeves as they brushed her scar. Hermione whimpered in pain at the contact with the scar, Ron interpreted the sound the wrong way.

She pulled her arm away from him. She opened her mouth to scream at Ron, but he muffled it by crashing his mouth back onto hers.

 _Why was he doing this? Why was he forcing himself on her?_ Hermione bit his tongue, hard.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron yelled. He had let go. His exclamation was loud enough to wake someone up Hermione was sure of it, but she didn't care at this point, she just needed to get away from him. He was reaching for her arm again when someone else quickly pulled her in the opposite direction away from the door of the bathroom and into the hall. George caught her against his chest.

"Leave her alone you git." And Fred punched Ron square in the nose.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione wasn't sure when she had started crying again, but George was repeating soothing words to her and gently rubbing her shoulders as her tears fell onto his chest. She took in a couple deep breaths and wiped her eyes for probably the third time that day. She heard footsteps coming up behind her, as Fred emerged from the bathroom, the light from the open door dimly lighting the hallway.

"I'll take her home," Fred sounded tired and irritated.

 _Was he mad at me? Does he think I was kissing Ron on purpose?_ She could feel the weight in her stomach double. Slowly she looked up from George and over at Fred, he didn't look upset with her, but he definitely looked upset. George stepped away from her, his hands on her shoulders were replaced with Fred's, and George started heading into the bathroom.

"I almost hope you broke his nose brother dear," George commented sounding overall done with the situation.

"Are you okay with me taking you home, or should I wake Ginny up?" Fred's voice was quiet and drenched with loathing. Her gut twisted.

"I-I can take myself Fred." Hermione took a deep breath. She was being childish. Ron kissing her was nothing that should keep her from performing a perfectly acceptable apparition. "I have my bag with me even, it's in the…," she trailed off realizing her bag was sitting by the sink in the bathroom, and that was not somewhere she really wanted to be. "…bathroom," Hermione finished her sentence.

Looking up a Fred, who was now making eye-contact with her for the second time that night she asked, "would you mind grabbing it for me, I don't think I want to walk in there right now." Hermione felt weak, but she figured she should be allowed at least a couple moments before she had to face Ron again. Fred smiled slightly, "Of course, one sec." Removing his hands from her shoulders, he walked over to the bathroom to grab her bag. Lights were turning on as other members of the household were waking up to see what the commotion was about. Hermione expected Ginny to appear at the top of the stairs any moment since she would wake up alone in her bed. Fred had already returned, red bag in hand.

Hermione's cheeks broke out in a slight flush, and she was glad for the dark hallway just then, since she realized Fred was shirtless. Not that she could fully appreciate it in the dark. "Thanks," she offered him when he placed her bag in her hand. Footsteps started to echo through the hallway.

"Come on, I'm taking you home before the whole clan shows up," Fred wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they disappeared with a crack.

 **X**

They arrived on her door step, her wards not allowing Fred to directly apparate into her flat. She started fishing through her bag for her wand to unlock the door. Fred stepped around her and tried the doorknob, while she continued searching her right arm already vanishing into the bag down to her shoulder, she was shivering in the cool night air. The door cracked open.

"You really need to get better at locking your door 'Mione," Fred chuckled at her as he stepped into her flat. Hermione sighed thankfully, she was too tired to snap at him about how she had quite the interesting day. She followed him into the flat shutting and making a point to lock the door behind her.

"Good girl," Fred approved with a teasing tone. Hermione rolled her eyes and placed her bag on the coffee table. Fred had already settled himself down onto the light gray couch, and in a manner very similar to Ginny, patted the spot next to him encouraging her to sit down. She faltered for a moment, appreciating that her flat was well lit. Fred was still wearing a pair of green pajama pants only, and he was definitely still fit from his Quidditch days. Trying not to look like she had just been checking out his abs, she shuffled behind the coffee table to come sit down next to him. She sat down with a generous amount of space between them, turning to face him she started.

"Look-," she and Fred started talking at the same time. Fred's face broke out in a smile.

"Ladies first," he stated in his usual mischievous manner and leaned back into the couch. Hermione turned, looking down at her hands in her lap now.

"I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have reacted so harshly towards you last week and today. I've just been on edge, it's been a lot to take in," she took another quick breath, "I know that you probably hate me by now, and I'm probably the last person you want to be with, but I don't know how to get around the law yet I haven't had enough time to research with work and Ginny's wedding coming up. I just-" Fred had cut her off by firmly placing a finger on her lips, again in typical Weasley fashion, and turning her head up to look her in the eyes.

"Hermione, you're babbling," he smiled slightly at her. "No one was ready for the Ministry to actually do this. I've been short with you too. I'm the one thinking you don't want to be stuck with me so calm down." He dropped his finger from her lips. "At least the love potions will be flying off the shelves again," he added with a grin.

Was she imagining it, or had he _brushed_ her lips just then? Hermione felt like she had almost experienced something sensual instead of being rudely hushed. But the rock that was weighing down her stomach felt a little lighter. He didn't seem to loathe her after all. She turned her head away from him and started playing with the red drawstring on her old plaid pajamas. If she thought about his hand on her lips again she would probably start blushing.

 _I should really update these_ , she thought to herself. Hermione sighed leaning back into the couch. She was so tired, it really had been an emotional roller-coaster type of day. _How much more of a child can I actually be?_

"Thank you for taking care of Ron, I…," Hermione's voice trailed off. She wasn't really sure what she should say. That she was scared, because she was. Ron had never forced himself on her like that and after six years of Auror training he had become quite bigger than he used to be. Without her wand ready she realized that she maybe couldn't have stopped him. A part of her wanted to shout at him that she was a grown woman and didn't need her help, but she realized now that it wasn't necessarily true. She risked a glance over at Fred, he was fuming in silence again.

"I'm going to properly kill that git," Fred mused as he ran his fingers through his hair messing it up even worse than before. It was his turn to sneak a glance at Hermione. She didn't look hurt, but she was visibly shaken and mostly tired looking. He placed his hand back down on his thigh imagining all the terrible ways to torture his brother. What kind of man did Ron think he was? He realized after a couple minutes that Hermione hadn't said anything in response, and her head lightly slid along the back of the couch coming to rest on his shoulder. She was noxed.

"What am I going to do about you now," Fred whispered to himself as he tilted his head and smelled the vanilla from Hermione's hair. The sounds of her soft breathing lulled him right to sleep as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Fred woke up with a distinct kink in his neck, and the faint scent of vanilla surrounding him. He was laying on his back, his feet hanging over the arm of the couch and one of his arms tucked underneath something very warm. He lazily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his free arm, brushing away his grogginess with it, and realized it wasn't a something warm, but someone – Hermione. She was tucked between himself and the couch laying on her side. At least she wouldn't have a sore neck, since his chest was serving as her pillow. His tucked hand was resting in the crook of her side. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

 _It looks like I'm going to be stuck here for a while._ Not that he minded that much, he was exhausted himself. If his neck wasn't so uncomfortable he'd probably be able to fall back asleep. He didn't want to disturb her, not after what happened last night. He held his breath and stiffened slightly as Hermione murmured softly in her sleep and moved her hand across his chest. He could feel the soft skin of her fingertips against his bare chest as she moved and it made his skin tingle. Hermione's right sleeve was gathered up around her elbow and Fred could see the light pink edges of her scar on her forearm. He gently reached up with his free hand to rotate her arm to get a better look at it. Instinctively her fingers wrapped around his as he adjusted her hand, setting free a round of small butterflies in his stomach, but the his stomach clenched.

A six year old scar should not look that bad. The words were still stained dark and puffed out against Hermione's soft skin, Mudblood. He had his own scars from the war, but all of his had faded to thin white lines. Fred had overheard Ron and Harry talking about her scar over the years. Ginny mentioned that it took Hermione two years before she could sleep without having nightmares over the incident. He'd even heard Harry and Ron call out in their sleep trying to help her over the past six years. But Fred had never seen it up close. He gently placed her hand back against his chest and started pulling her gathered sleeve down. Hermione almost always covered it, and he felt like he was invading her privacy by viewing it. No wonder she had screamed when he had grabbed her forearm at Flourish and Blotts, it looked painful.

After a few more minutes of laying uncomfortably on the couch, Fred realized his feet were numb and a dull ache was starting to form at the nape of his neck. _I can't keeping in this position any more._ Fred slowly picked up Hermione's arm and worked to roll himself off of the couch. He could see Hermione starting to stir, evidence that she was probably going to wake up.

 _Better do it quick then._ He slipped off the couch and scooped Hermione up and carried her over to her bed, gently laying her down in it for the second time that week. He stretched his legs then and leaned over to pull the covers up and over Hermione, when she whispered his name.

"..Fred." He froze for a moment, was she awake? It didn't appear so, her breathing was still even. _Was she dreaming about me?_ He didn't know, but he did decide to lay down on Hermione's bed beside her and wait to see if she said anything else.

Hermione did not, however, say anything else so Fred rolled onto his back again to try and get a little more sleep. He felt like he should go. Hermione was home and safe, but that didn't mean she would want to wake up next to him in the morning. Things has been so weird between them lately, and now with the proposed marriage Fred really didn't know what to think.

She was beautiful he pointed out to himself. He had watched her grow up with Ron, Harry, and Ginny. He remembered seeing her at the Yule Ball all those years ago. It was the first time he noticed that she was going to be more than a frizzy haired bookworm. After the war she had become a common topic in Witch Weekly, which probably put more pressure on her relationship with Ron. No wonder they had stayed together for so long. Fred felt a pang of jealousy surge through him. _How often had Ron got to lay next to her and wake up beside her?_ He was getting more and more irritated by the moment. How had his feelings changed so quickly? Yes, he thought Hermione was beautiful, but he had never truly thought of her as a potential love interest, and now that the law had been passed he had done a complete 180. He punched his brother for Merlin's sake. _How could I have not though?_

He remembered hearing the hot water of the shower turning on last night and assumed it was Hermione, and didn't think anything of it. He and George had been discussing his pairing with Hermione while lying in bed last night. George kept pointing out that Hermione would be good for him once they got their row sorted out. She was just in shock, and had always gotten along with the pair of them before. But then he had heard voices drifting up the hallway from the bathroom. Fred and George's bedroom was on the second to top floor along with the bathroom the kids all shared. Who could she have been talking to? Then they heard Ron start yelling. Fred and George had all but flew from their bedroom. _I should have appariated_ he thought to himself. _I apparate for every other little thing, but not when Hermione needed me._ He was back to his wallowing. The first thing he saw was Hermione trying to get out of the bathroom and then she was being yanked back in. He knew he had stopped thinking at that point, and when her hand reached out of the bathroom for the second time just as he reached the door he had grabbed her and swung her out of the way and into George's arms.

Fred turned back over onto his side to look at Hermione again. The sun was starting to peak through the windows of her flat. Her hair had come out of its braid and was sprawled out around her looking rather messy, and her old Harpie shirt lay in a way that showed off part of her midsection. He blushed slightly besides himself, she really was gorgeous, and she could be all his. Which was causing an uncomfortable situation to start in his dark green pajama pants. Fred sighed accepting that he was not going to be able to go hook up with Katie Bell whenever he pleased anymore. This was going to be interesting, and he pulled his eyes away from her stomach. Hermione was turning now to face him, eyes slowly opening.

 _Oh gosh, she's going to think I've been staring at her. Well I have, but she doesn't need to think I'm a creeper or anything._ He was embarrassed, but he was also Fred Weasley. He and George had been making the ladies swoon for years. He could handle this, he repeated to himself. Hermione was now laying on her side looking directly at him sleepily. _Gosh she's cute._ She was lightly starting to rub the sleep out of her eyes as he watched coherency replace the sleepy look.

"Fred, what are you? I mean …when did we get in bed?" Her cheeks were very rosy as a furious blush surfaced across them. She was working on pulling her shirt back down to cover her midriff. _No yelling though_ , Fred reasoned to himself in a positive tone. That was a good sign right? Fred gave her one of his famous mischievous, lazy grins.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, love. I only just moved you because we fell asleep on your impossibly uncomfortable couch," Fred responded like he was talking to any other girl. Not his possible fiancé. He was doing his best to play it cool, and turn the tables back on her. Her blush had not faded in the slightest in fact it was turning to a delicious shade of dark pink by now, Fred thought to himself, as he realized that she was the one staring at his midriff now. He leaned forward slightly so his lips here next to her ear, and he paused knowing she could feel his breath on her skin before he whispered to her.

"If you take a picture, love, it will last longer," Fred was chuckling now. Why shouldn't he be allowed to have any fun with this? Teasing was more up his alley anyway, and he was getting pleasure from knowing that it seemed Hermione was attracted to him physically as well.

Hermione let out some form of an exasperated noise and pushed at his chest. He let her push him back, as she clearly didn't want him whispering in her ear anymore. He quickly searched her eyes to make sure she was okay, and not actually upset with him for teasing her before he placed his hand on top of hers securing it to his chest, so when he rolled back onto his back he pulled Hermione over with him. She was now laying on top of him, one of her legs sliding between his. He realized that this could get uncomfortable quickly if she realized that it was not Fred's leg pressing against Hermione's thigh. Hermione looked dazed for a minute, and Fred's instincts were calling for him to kiss her then. He frozen then though, and let go of her hand giving her the opportunity to pull away. As much as he felt the need to pull her in for a kiss just now he still remembered that she had received an unwanted Weasley kiss last night and he wasn't about to give her another.

 **X**


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning: This chapter contains some sexual content #slowburn**

Fred's mind went absolutely blank when the unthinkable happened. Hermione shifted forward, her leg brushing against his already aroused situation, and her head tilted slightly until their lips met.

 _Hermione is kissing me._

Her lips were soft, yet hesitant. Fred could just taste it on her lips, causing his inner lion to awaken. Hermione's lips had barely separated from Fred's, and they both took in a quick surprised breath. His right hand slid to rest on the crook of her waist, and he almost moaned as he felt her soft skin beneath his fingers. Fred's left hand had traveled to the nape of Hermione's neck, his fingers entangling within her brown curls. Now he was going to kiss her.

Their kiss tasted of a slight desperation and the need for release. Release from the tension and stress that had been building up over the last two weeks. They both needed to quit worrying about a future that seemed out of their control, and just focus on the now. Hermione's fingernails sensually scraped Fred's bare shoulder, and a hungry gasp finally escaped through Fred's lips. Quickly, he sat up needing to be closer to her, needing more. Now Hermione was sitting on his lap, straddling him, while Fred's hand slowly slid upward against her ribs underneath her shirt. His hand stopped as his thumb ever so slightly brushed the underside of her exposed breast, pushing him into a deeper state of need. Hermione's hands had moved to Fred's fiery hair in response. Her delicate fingers securing his lips on hers. Her breath was short and sexy between each kiss while his gasps for air seemed intolerant at the time separated from her lips. Her thighs pressed against the outside of Fred's as her knees sunk deeper into the mattress and she shifted her weight even more and pulled herself closer to him. Her toes slipped under Fred's flannel covered knees and curled to touch the back of them, as a sigh of pleasure slipped from Hermione when he nipped her deliciously pink bottom lip.

He pulled his lips from hers then, and looked into her eyes, asking for permission to take things just a little further. Hermione's eyes were clear and confident, her insecurity had long passed with each kiss and touch. Later on she would worry about how reckless she was, or how she should have stopped things then, but at that moment the only thing she needed was to lose herself in Fred. The way he smelled like pine and hints of sandalwood, how each confident placement of his hands felt deliberate in the attempt to bring her pleasure, how the feeling of her bottom lip being gently raked between his teeth set her core on fire, and how he was looking at her now like she, Hermione Granger, was the sexiest woman he had ever seen. Hermione answered his questioning eyes with kiss that could have set off fireworks.

She met his lips again, but this time the kiss was different. This kiss was fueled with a flame that could have rivaled Fred's hair. Hermione kept one hand wrapped up in his red locks, and the other on the back of his neck. She poured her emotions through her kiss, then she scratched her fingers along the back of his neck as she lowered her hand to rest on his shoulder again. Hermione was rewarded with a hot hissing breath from Fred. She smiled coyly against his lips, and she spread her knees a little wider, teasing him slightly by lowering her hips to brush up against him. She could feel Fred return her smile against her lips, and his erection between her legs. Hermione knew she had just entered a very dangerous game. She was teasing a prince of tricks. Suddenly, Hermione released a surprised yelp as she saw the world go round. In one neat movement, like being spun on a broom, Fred rolled her over. He gave a husky chuckle, but their lips only parted for a moment before he recaptured hers. His hand traveled up her smooth stomach now, purposefully slow and teasing. His fingers making contact with the barest of touches that made Hermione shutter with pleasure. A man had never made her feel this way before, and later she would ponder over this and realize it was because Fred was indeed a _man_. Her shirt rode up following his hand, and finally exposed the bottom half of her breasts. Hermione wrapped her hands around his neck as he slipped his tongue confidently into her mouth tasting her in a way that felt like he was teasing. He was like a fox- confident, sly, and oh so sexy. Hermione let a needy moan escape her mouth as his tongue caressed hers while the warmth of his hand left her stomach and was replaced gently when he grasped her breast.

Fred kneaded at her breast gently; slowly building up pressure. He released Hermione's lips and quickly brushed her mass of curls off her shoulder to kiss slowly down her elegant neck. Her skin tasted sweet to him, and her vanilla scent surrounded him. Hermione's breath caught as he lightly rolled her nipple between his fingers, she could feel warmth starting to pool between her legs. She muffled her own moan by nipping onto his ear needing some form of release. Fred's own breath hitched and he pulled back slightly to look into her chocolate, caramel eyes. Both of their ragged breathing filled the flat. Her lashes were slightly hooded, and Fred knew she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

Fred groaned, letting go of her breast and rolled off of Hermione onto his back. He threw his forearm over his eyes effectively hiding his self-loath in stopping. Hermione let out an audible huff indicating her frustrated displeasure, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Fred, why are you," she paused abruptly realizing that she was about to ask _Fred Weasley_ why he wasn't going to ravish her right this instance. She took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. Thoughts of how he had just pinched her nipple fighting to remain the only thing on her mind. The night had taken an unexpected turn, going from believing he hated her to all but moaning his name in her bed. She could feel her core throbbing, and knew that her knickers were soaked. She could smell the hormones in the air.

"I- I'm sorry," Her kiss-flushed face was slowly turning to an embarrassed one, as she accounted for the actions leading to this moment. She sat up now, hand resting on the mattress between her legs, after pulling her shirt down quickly to cover her exposed breasts.

 _Did he stop because he didn't want to with me?_ Insecurity quickly forcing its way into her mind. She physically shook her head, tossing her curls, to stop the thought in its place. Hermione was not some weak-kneed, swooning girl. She was strong and intelligent. Fred _clearly_ had wanted her. Her thigh still tingling at the absence of his erection which had be pressed against her thigh.

Fred's arm flew from his face to look over at Hermione when he heard her voice falter.

"Hermione, no! I just don't know if you," He cheeks were flushed. He, _he_ , was embarrassed.

 _How was he going to explain to George that he turned down potential, I don't know (sex?), with Hermione because he was trying to be decent?_ Fred almost groaned at the thought, because he knew George would get this out of him one way or another. Fred, who was known as a lady's man? This would kill his reputation, if George felt mouthy. He took a deep breath trying to explain before things got worse.

"I don't know what you're ready for, and since we're paired," he hesitated. He felt like blaming his decision to slow down on the pairing was a lie, and lying to Hermione would feel like a betrayal. "No, that's not it. I want this to work." Fred's words were flowing out now, like someone had pulled the plug out of the bath. "I don't want to make you feel like you need to do this now, because of the pairing. I want us to both want this. Even though it's just started because we are paired. I want, I don't know how to say it." None of Fred's words were forming coherent sentences. He ran his hand through his red hair ruffling up some already pretty serious make-out hair, and he searched for Hermione's eyes. When he found them he stared into them getting lost for a moment as he noticed that a darker chocolate lined the outer circumference of her iris. Looking desperately for confirmation that she understood, for answers, for anything. When his eyes met hers his insecurity melted away, her intelligent eyes grasping his need to make things right. She understood him, and he found his words.

"There's clearly something here between us. And I want us to find it for the right reasons," Fred's explanation rung out through the flat with clarity.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione shocked Fred again when tears started streaming down her cheeks. He did not know how to handle crying girls, let alone himself when he was around said crying girls. Hermione started to shake, and he worried she was having some sort of fit now. His fear and uncomfortableness were written more plainly on his face than 'Hogwarts, a History.' However, his eyebrows lowered from his shock into a furrowed brow of confusion when he realized Hermione was laughing and crying at the same time.

 _Women,_ Fred thought to himself. His unease was still apparent. He didn't know if he should move to comfort her or be offended that she was now laughing after he had just declared that he wanted their arranged marriage to work out.

Fred's temper started to simmer. She was _laughing_ off his feelings? Was he so out of touch with what they had just shared? Just a second ago he had been thoroughly exploring her mouth, and he remembered her needy groans that he can coaxed out of her with his hands.

Hermione's laughter had slowed as she felt Fred's brooding anger seep into the room. She started to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Oh come on Fred, I'm not laughing at you," She attempted to settle him. His anger was easier to read than when he slipped into his trickster persona. Hermione collected herself a bit, and unpeeled herself from the mattress, sitting up now to calm Fred down. He was staring out the window now, avoiding looking at her. She reached over and firmly placed a hand on each of his stubble covered cheeks, turning his handsome features to face her.

Her small face displayed a look on genuine apology, and Fred settled slightly. He was still mildly irritated, but Hermione was never a good liar. He had seen her try over the past, how many now, eleven years? And her eyes were a window to her soul, and they were always her undoing. One corner of Hermione's lips was turned up slightly, to give him a small smile. She took in a breath to explain.

"I'm just so confused. There's a lot of emotions running through me right now. I'm scared, and I went from believe you hated me to," that delicious blush had returned to her cheeks bringing a smug smirk back to Fred's face. Her voice had trailed, obviously trying to indicate the events that had just taken place in her bed. "… You know. And you had me worked up, and now I'm coming down from that. It's just a lot to be feeling."

Fred's smirk shifted to a sly smile.

"Worked up?" he asked her with a fake innocents dripping from his words. He had moved with confidence, slipping and arm around her shoulder and pulling her back onto his lap. Hermione pressed her back against his chest and almost shuddered when she felt his warm breath against his skin.

"Darling, you will know when I've truly _worked_ you up," he whispered into her ear suggestively. Hermione's skin broke out into pleasurable goosebumps.

 _He changed his emotions so fast._ Hermione thought to herself in a daze.

Fred nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling that subtly sweet vanilla.

"You'll be so _worked up,"_ he emphasized the word with a pinch to her nipple through her cotton shirt. Hermione felt her core pool, reacting to his touch and the tone of his voice.

"That you will be begging me for release." Hermione hadn't realized she had released a moan until Fred had turned her face to his to stifle it with a kiss.

Fred broke off the kiss with a quick nip to her bottom lip, which evoked a squeak of surprise from Hermione, and he let go of her sliding off the bed. Hermione was left slightly dazed in her own bed, hands resting against the messed up purple comforter between her spread out knees.

 _He is so sexy._ Hermione allowed herself to admit, as she registered his bare back again. Fred was tall and muscular, built like the lean athlete that he was. She was too busy staring at him to realize that he was in the process of leaving her flat. Hermione quickly shook her head, trying to shake herself out of whatever trance she was trapped in, and parted her lips to ask him what he was doing, before he interrupted her.

"I've got some work to do at the shop, George will be expecting me," He supplied the answer to her unasked question with a wink.

"I'll see you later," He declared with such suggestion and a look that Hermione had to look down at herself to make sure that she wasn't, in fact, naked. Fred unlocked the front door and stepped through to disapparate.

"You better lock this door behind me," he called back behind him before Hermione heard the tell-tale crack of his departure.

 **X**

Hermione released a breath she wasn't aware she was holding, and laid back down on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling replaying that mornings events through her head, which lead to the searing blush returning to her cheeks.

"What am I getting myself into?" She asked herself rhetorically.

Her emotions had been wrenched every-which-way over the last fortnight. Honestly, she didn't know where she even stood. She knew she was attracted to Fred now, she amended to herself. It was more of a positive than it seemed. She had spent just over two years with Ron and quickly realized that physical attraction wasn't exactly at the top of her list. Hermione spiraled into an internal conversation rationalizing that Ron was a handsome wizard, but not her type she. Her thoughts about Ron confused her even more, because she had just been rolling around, _literally_ , in bed with his brother. And she had loved it. Between those thoughts, Hermione's mind wandered back to the Burrow.

Hermione shuddered slightly thinking about returning to the Burrow. She would have to eventually, but she was sure things were even more of a mess now than they were last night. Ron was supposed to be her friend, one of her oldest friends. While she no longer trusted him, or wanted to be near him, she didn't wish for his family to turn against him.

 _Would they really turn against him?_ She asked herself, it seemed unlikely. Molly and Arthur had welcomed Percy back into their lives with little resentment after the war. Fred and George seemed to hold the largest grudge against Percy, but she had a feeling it was more to do with the two of them becoming Molly's 'least favorite children' again. Which was their own fault always causing trouble and blowing things up. Thinking about it some more she felt like she knew Fred even less. She had been caught up thinking about how she didn't know Fred, when she really meant that she didn't know Fred _and_ George. She realized she knew Fred even less. The two of them were never apart.

Hermione could tell the twins apart with ease. They approached conversations in a different manner. Fred was a bit more headstrong, and she often categorized him as the real trouble maker. Not that George didn't cook up a fair share of his own trouble, but Hermione liked to imagine that Fred instigated most of it. But they were just that, imaginings. Hermione couldn't recall ever having more than a couple one-on-one conversation with either of the twins. They were a social pair, always dropping by the Burrow and running the shop. The two spent many hours in the common room back at school, but Hermione realized that while the socialized, they rarely talked about themselves. Usually the conversations were about new inventions, giving bad advice, or teasing someone.

 _Oh well, I'll have to get to know him if we're going to get married. Whether he likes it or not._

Hermione sat back up and went to take her third shower for the last forty-eight hours. This time as the hot water hit her back she reminisced of the feeling of Fred's hands against her skin.


End file.
